Garter attachment.



W. FERGUSON.

GARTER ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1916.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

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WILLIAM FERGUSON, F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO PIONEER SUSPENDER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

GABTER ATTACHMENT.

Application filed May 6, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM FERGUSON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Garter Attachment, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to garter attachments. The object is to provide improved means for disengageably attaching the free end of the leg band to an intermediate part of the garter. The device is especially adapted for use in connection with pad garters.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate merely by way of example suitable means for the embodiment of my invention Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the garter in operative position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the disengageable end of the leg band brought into the position in which the attachment elements may be separated.

Fi 3 is a view in perspective of the said attachment elements.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of element 5.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical section on line 5-5 of Fig. 6.

become disengaged by accident. A common method now in use for disengageably securing the end of the leg band to the pad comprises a simple loop and a cooperating stud; and the chief, if not sole means, for preventing accidental disengagement of the parts is the tension of the leg band which is ordinarily elastic. When the leg band becomes unduly stretched, accidental disengagement frequently occurs. This is a source of inconvenience, to overcome which numerous attempts have been made to obtain more secure engagement by means of snap hooks and the like, wherein the resilience of a metal part is relied upon to prevent accidental disengagement, in that a certain Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

Serial No. 95,759.

amount of pressure is required to be exerted to secure disengagement. These various devices have proved complicated, expensive or ineffective, so that the simple hook and metal loop are still in most common use, in spite of the objection that they are liable to accidental disengagement.

The device of the present invention, while nearly as simple as the hook and loop both in construction and operation, is almost entirely free from liability to accidental disengagement.

This device is described and shown in the drawings as applied to the pad garter, chiefly because this form of garter is now in most common or universal use. Obviously it may be applied to other forms of garters.

The slotted member 5 is secured in the usual way near one of the upper ends of the pad 6. It is provided with the stud 7, having preferably, as shown, a spheroidal knob or head 8. The other attachment element 9 is provided with the slot 10 through which is threaded, in the usual way, the end of the leg band 11. Near the tapering end of the element 9 is provided the oval or oblong opening or slot 12 having its greater extension or longitudinal axis in line with the longitudinal extension of the leg band 11.

It will also be noted that the spheroidal knob 8 has its greater extension or longitudinal axis in a line inclined to, or at an angle with, the longitudinal axis of the oval opening 12. When the garter is in operative position as shown in Fig. 1, this angle is preferably about forty-five degrees, for the reason that this is the relative position of the slot and knob for convenient arbitrary disengagement, without sacrificing safety against accidental disengagement. It will be noted from an inspection of the example shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, that the inclination of the longitudinal axis of the knob is from the upper right hand side to the lower left hand side of the vertical line passing through the center. The position obviously being reversed on the other garter of a pair. The advantage of such relationship of the parts is this: when the garter is in position as shown in Fig. 1, the pull of the stocking will tends to draw the pad downwardly and bring the longitudinal axis of the knob into a position at right angles with the longitudinal axis of the slot. This is obviously the safest locking position of the attachment elements: and this condition prevails, no matter how much the leg band stretches. In order to disengage the elements, the end of the leg band is depressed, as shown in Fig. 2, until the longitudinal axis of the slot and knob are brought into alinement or parallel relationship, when, of course, the knob may be withdrawn from the oval or oblong opening.

It will be understood that the relative dimensions of the knob and its receiving opening are such as to secure a nice fit between the two. One of the advantages of the spheroidal formation of the knob is to minimize the liability of accidental disengagement of the elements, while, on the other hand, when the elements are positively operated to connect or disconnect the same, by tilting one element with respect to the other, one of the symmetrical noses of the knob serves as a convenient guide into or out of the opening 12 and thus facilitates the operation. Such tilting is only effective however when the greater axis of the opening 12 corresponds substantially with the greater axis of the knob. Another advantage of the formation is that it gives an extremely attractive appearance to the garter, which is an important desideratum in respect to articles of personal apparel.

While the elements have been described,

. merely as a matter of convenience, with the longitudinal axes of the knob and slot having a certain relation to the longitudinal extension of the leg band, it will be understood that this feature is immaterial, so long as these axes have the required relationship to each other.

The reason that the angle of forty-five degrees, between these axes, when the garter is in normal operative position, is preferable to ninety degrees, for example, is that with an angle of ninety degrees, an undue movement of the parts and consequently an undue stretching of the leg band would be required to bring the elements in disengageable position.

It should also be understood, that when the two elements are brought into position with their longitudinal-axes in parallel relationship, by pulling down on the leg band as above described, it is then necessary to push said elements slightly together along the line of their longitudinal axes, in order to bring the oval opening into register with the greater dimension of the spheroidal knob, or to tilt the knob with respect to the plane of the other element, as above explained, so that one element may be separated from the other. Thus,- it will be seen, is added another element of safety against accidental disengagement, without materially adding to the difficulty of arbitrary separation.

What I claim is 1. A garter attachment for disengageably connecting the leg band comprising a stud carrying element provided with a spheroidal knob mounted thereon, and a cooperating element having an oval aperture for receiving the knob, the longitudinal axes of aperture and knob being at an angle when the garter is in operative position.

2. A garter attachment for disengageably connecting the leg band comprising a stud carrying element provided with a spheroidal knob mounted thereon and a cooperating element having an oval aperture for receiving the knob, the longitudinal axes of aperture and knob being inclined to each other at an angle of approximately forty-five degrees.

WILLIAM FERGUSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

